“The profusion that the Internet and digital technology have introduced into the circulation of images no longer makes it possible to choose between appropriation and sharing; on the contrary, it confuses them […]” (Chollet, 2022: 38-40).

Platforms are not empty shells, mere digital media allowing the expression of all and sundry: they reconfigure our modalities of content apprehension. In this colloquium, we propose to explore this tension between appropriation and sharing.

The first conference “Networking Images – Approches interdisciplinaires des images en réseaux” took place in 2011 at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University. A little more than a decade later, we propose to revisit the subject of networked images in the light of its technical, social and academic evolutions during an international colloquium entitled “Platforms and uses: cinema, television, video games and digital creation”. This symposium, jointly organized by the University of Montreal and the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, will take place at the University of Montreal on November 2 and 3, 2023.

See the attachment for a full description of the project.

We ask you to send your proposals written in French or English to colloque.plateformes.et.usages@gmail.com by 29 April 2023. Answers will be given at the beginning of June.

Several modalities of intervention are possible:

• An oral communication of about twenty minutes.
• A poster.
• Some exchanges may take place outside the conference and will take the form of radio broadcasts produced with CISM before the event.
• The presentation of research/creative work is welcome and may be accompanied by participation in the exhibition at the Carrefour des arts et des sciences de l’Université de Montréal that will accompany the conference.

Proposals should include the following elements:

• Title of the proposal
• Summary of the proposal: 1,500 characters maximum, including spaces (approximately 200 words)
• Specifying: Name of the author(s), institution(s) to which the proposal belongs.
• Angle in which the paper is to be presented
• Preferred method of communication

Event organized with the support of Labo Télé, GRAFIM, CinEXmedia Partnership, CRIHN, Labex ICCA, CIM, IRMECCEN and IRCAV.
Organizing committee: Christine Bernier, Vincent Bilem, Florian Body, Marta Boni, Joyce Cimper, Barbara Laborde, Joa Neves, Guillaume Soulez, and Zaira Zarza.
Scientific committee: Laurence Allard, Dominic Arsenault, Marie-France Chambat-Houillon, Franck Rebillard, Carl Therrien.

« La profusion qu’Internet et le numérique ont introduite dans la circulation des images permet de ne plus choisir entre l’appropriation et le partage; au contraire, elle les confond […] » (Chollet, 2022 : 38-40).

Les plateformes ne sont pas des coquilles vides, de simples supports numériques permettant l’expression de toutes et de tous : elles reconfigurent nos modalités d’appréhension des contenus. Dans le présent colloque, nous proposons d’explorer cette tension entre appropriation et partage.

Le premier colloque « Networking Images – Approches interdisciplinaires des images en réseaux » a eu lieu en 2011 à la Sorbonne-Nouvelle. Un peu plus d’une décennie plus tard, nous proposons de revisiter le sujet des images en réseaux à la lumière de ses évolutions techniques, sociales et académiques lors d’un colloque international intitulé « Plateformes et usages : cinéma, télévision, jeu vidéo et création numérique ». Ce colloque organisé conjointement par l’Université de Montréal et l’Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle aura lieu à l’Université de Montréal les 2 et 3 novembre 2023.

Voir pièce jointe pour les détails.

Nous vous demandons d’envoyer vos propositions rédigées en français ou en anglais à l’adresse colloque.plateformes.et.usages@gmail.com pour le 29 avril 2023. Les réponses seront données au début du mois de juin.

Plusieurs modalités d’interventions sont envisageables :

• Une communication orale d’une vingtaine de minutes.
• Un poster.
• Certains échanges pourront avoir lieu en dehors du colloque et prendront la forme d’émissions de radio produites avec CISM, avant l’événement.
• La présentation de travaux en recherche/création est bienvenue et pourra s’accompagner d’une participation à l’exposition au Carrefour des arts et des sciences de l’Université de Montréal qui accompagnera le colloque.

Les propositions devront comporter les éléments suivants :

• Titre de la proposition
• Résumé de la proposition : 1 500 caractères maximum, espaces compris (environ 200 mots)
• Précisant : Nom de(s) auteur(s)/autrice(s), institution(s) de rattachement.
• Axe dans lequel s’inscrit la communication
• Modalité de communication préférée

Évènement organisé avec le soutien du Labo Télé, du GRAFIM, du Partenariat CinEXmedia, du CRIHN, du Labex ICCA, du CIM, de l’IRMECCEN et de l’IRCAV.
Comité organisateur : Christine Bernier, Vincent Bilem, Florian Body, Marta Boni, Joyce Cimper, Barbara Laborde, Joa Neves, Guillaume Soulez, et Zaira Zarza.
Comité scientifique : Laurence Allard, Dominic Arsenault, Marie-France Chambat-Houillon, Franck Rebillard, Carl Therrien.

The graduate program at Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication annual CONDUITS conference invites scholars to think through our 2023 theme of Ex:tension.

Extension, the act of lengthening, is a dynamic movement, and Marshall McLuhan suggests that the use of media as a tool is a mutual shaping process: elongation shapes the direction and understanding of that medium, and in turn, the use of media to extend shapes how we make sense of the world.

Since its publication in 1964, McLuhan’s theory of extension has been subject to critique in both scholarly and non-scholarly work. Scholars have suggested such conceptualization as being too deterministic (Postman, 1985; Carey, 1989; Williams, 1990; Poster, 2010), limited in scope (Murray, 1997; Bolter and Grusin, 1999; Hayles, 1999), reductive (Williams, 1974; Debrays, 1996; boyd, 2014), insular and narrow-minded (Rushloff, 2013; Kittler, 2002), optimistic (Carr, 2010; Lanier, 2010), and inattentive to dimensions of power and control (Dean, 2010; Lovnik, 2011; Turkle, 2011; Noble, 2018).

More recent interventions have emphasized that McLuhanian extension is both singular and universalizing. It is not all bodies being extended, but rather one very specific body, resulting in a theory that doesn’t meaningfully consider the ways media and technology structure contemporary experiences of race, gender, sexuality, and class (Sharma, 2017; 2022). Rather than entirely disregard McLuhan, these interventions suggest that we instead think about his work as a springboard to explore the more generative dimensions and understandings woven into extension.

Drawing upon the idea that McLuhanian extension doesn’t account “for everything and everyone” and is “up for grabs” (Sharma, 2022, p. 180), the theme of Ex:tension encourages emergent and contemporary understandings, reworkings, expansions, complications, deepenings, remixes, resistances, and refusals of what technological and mediated extension is, was, and can be. We also invite work that considers the gaps, fractures, and slippages along extended lines, as well as explorations of liminal spaces that negotiate the boundaries of mediated and technological extension.

Submissions that engage with the theme of Ex:tension might include, but are not limited to the following:

• Feminist, environmental, Indigenous, queer, critical race, intersectional, and/or interdisciplinary theories and approaches that illuminate and animate contemporary forms of mediated and technological extension
• Over/extensions of state or corporate power and/or the corresponding contestations of that power
• Studies of social movements such as the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, Extinction Rebellion, and Indigenous Rising
• Considerations and practices of futurisms and radical imaginaries through creative communication
• Case studies of intertextual extension and immersion into/of emerging media technologies
• Extractivist and neo-colonial ideologies of overextension in environmental and data studies
• Reflections on mediated and technological formations of compassion and care

Popular culture as extension of pedagogy, informal learning, and entertainment as education

• Digital in/visibility and the positioning of migrants in liminal space through questions of identity, representation, sovereignty, voice, and subjectivity
• Political economic analyses of creative and technological industries, platforms, and labour dimensions

The CONDUITS organizing committee values the interdisciplinary nature of the graduate program at the School of Communication at SFU, and as such, we welcome submissions from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. Past presenters at CONDUITS have come from a wide range of different fields and disciplines, including media studies, film production, geography and urban studies, environmental sciences, computer sciences, anthropology, gender studies, sociology, and political science.

Maria Sommers (she/her)
MA Student | School of Communication
Researcher | Digital Democracies Institute
Simon Fraser University
maria_sommers@sfu.ca

Call for Submissions: PLASTIC

tba: Journal of Art, Media, and Visual Culture, is pleased to announce that we are accepting submissions for our upcoming issue, PLASTIC. tba is an annual peer-reviewed journal organized by graduate students of the Visual Arts Department at Western University in London, Ontario (CA). It provides an interdisciplinary forum for emerging and independent artists and scholars by bringing together studio, art history, cultural studies, theory and criticism, creative writing, and related fields. Academic articles, poetry, short fiction, and artworks are welcome. Experimentation and risk is encouraged.

Topics can include, but are not limited to:

• Pliability, malleability, plasticity
• Artistic and curatorial materials, les arts en plastiques
• Materialisms, historical materialism, new materialism
• Microplastics, plastics pollution
• Pollution as colonialism
• The globalization of plastics, petrocapitalism
• Toxicity, toxic ecologies, climate crisis
• Health and plastics – biology and technology
• Anthropocene, plastics in the geologic record
• Aesthetics of plastic, plastic surgery
• The synthetic, the ersatz, and authenticity
• History of plastics, plastics futurity

To be plastic is to be pliable, moldable, and adaptable to change. It is both a material quality and a conceptual one–plasticity was a commonly used word in the arts, applied to discussions of artist materials like paint and clay but also to techniques and gestures. Today, plastic refers to a diverse array of polymer and monomer combinations mainly derived from oil that have come to replace more expensive applications of natural resins, rubbers, and shellacs, as well as metals, glass, wood, and fibers like cotton and wool. Plastic has become so ubiquitous a material it’s impossible to imagine contemporary life without it. But what we recognize as plastic today isn’t nearly as pliable as the original word implies. Commercial plastics are not designed for durability, but rather for expediency. They crack and crumble into forever smaller pieces, bioaccumulating at the molecular level into all manner of life. Perhaps a redefinition of the term is in order: to be plastic is to be omnipresent, insidious, and even toxic. But not everything about plastic is bad. Plastics have become a necessity for administering vaccines, for providing clean drinking water to remote communities, offering temporary emergency shelters and preserving the shelf life of foods that would otherwise go to waste. For better or for worse, it would seem that plastic is here to stay.

We invite you to submit your work by May 21, 2023. Submissions must be completed through the journal’s website, which uses OJS software to ensure contributer/reviewer anonymity. Emailed submissions will not be accepted. If you’re interested in supporting the review process, we are currently seeking peer reviewers–we welcome you to get in touch at tbaedit@uwo.ca with your CV and research area(s).

Emily Cadotte, Editor
Ana Moyer, Associate Editor, Art History
Imogen Clendinning, Associate Editor, Studio

For inquiries, please write tbaedit@uwo.ca
website: www.tbajournal.ca

APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS : Colloque international « Jean-Marc Vallée : du Québec à Hollywood »
Cinémathèque québécoise (Montréal), 8 et 9 juin 2023

Le 25 décembre 2021, Jean-Marc Vallée nous quittait prématurément à l’âge de 58 ans. Titulaire d’un diplôme en études cinématographiques émis en 1986 par l’Université de Montréal, Jean-Marc Vallée a reçu de manière posthume, lors d’une cérémonie de collation des grades qui s’est tenue en août 2022, l’Insigne du mérite de la Faculté des arts et des sciences de cette université. Cet honneur témoigne de l’excellence, québécoise dans un premier temps, et internationale dans un second, de son parcours.

C’est d’abord le retentissement francophone de films comme C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) ou Café de Flore (2011) qui le consacre comme l’un des talents québécois les plus en vue; puis les succès de Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Wild (2014) et Demolition (2015) l’installent comme l’un des metteurs en scène les plus convoités du cinéma nord-américain d’auteur. La production sérielle, qui tient désormais une place prépondérante au sein de l’industrie audiovisuelle via le développement des plateformes numériques et l’influence du récit feuilletonnant à travers le médium télévisuel et le médium cinématographique, est également un domaine où se démarque le cinéaste québécois : ses séries Sharp Objects (2018) et Big Little Lies (2017-2019) ont rencontré un grand succès populaire.

Réalisateur, scénariste ainsi que producteur de cinéma et de télévision, Vallée se présente comme l’un des artistes les plus féconds d’une nouvelle vague de cinéastes qui participent au rayonnement international de l’art québécois. Le triomphe critique et commercial des œuvres de Vallée le place également, avec quelques autres, comme l’un des fers de lance d’une génération d’artistes de la Belle province ayant conquis l’industrie hollywoodienne. Jean-Marc Vallée, Denis Villeneuve, Xavier Dolan et Philippe Falardeau sont en effet aujourd’hui régulièrement sollicités pour les projets intimistes, le cinéma de genre, le cinéma à grand spectacle ou la production sérielle d’Hollywood.

Le colloque international Jean-Marc Vallée : du Québec à Hollywood souhaite à la fois étudier l’œuvre cinématographique et télévisuelle de Vallée et réfléchir à cette tendance du cinéma québécois et de ses artistes à s’exporter à l’international, notamment en France et à Hollywood. L’événement s’adresse tant aux connaisseurs de l’œuvre de Jean-Marc Vallée qu’aux non-initiés qui s’intéresseraient néanmoins au renouveau du cinéma québécois et aux transferts interculturels entre le Québec, l’Europe et Hollywood. Par le prisme de l’œuvre de Vallée, ce colloque souhaite enfin susciter des réflexions au sujet de questions aujourd’hui essentielles en recherche et en création pour tous ceux et celles s’intéressant au cinéma
québécois.

Nous invitons des propositions de communication individuelles qui explorent des thématiques propres à l’œuvre et au parcours de Jean-Marc Vallée. Les communications peuvent aborder les sujets suivants, sans toutefois s’y limiter :

• l’évolution de l’esthétique valléenne, des premiers courts métrages jusqu’aux séries télévisées;
• les thématiques structurantes de l’œuvre de Jean-Marc Vallée (par exemple celle des rôles féminins et de leur indépendance ; celle de la présence ou de l’absence de la figure du père ; celle de la complexité psychologique des personnages);
• l’intérêt croissant du cinéaste pour le média télévisuel et sériel;
• l’univers musical de l’œuvre cinématographique et télévisuelle de Jean-Marc Vallée (notamment l’importance du pop rock, du jazz ou du blues dans son œuvre) ou encore ses collaborations avec des compositeurs et compositrices de renom;
• sources d’inspiration, approches scénaristiques et conceptuelles en amont de la réalisation;
• l’étude de l’utilisation des effets visuels et les technologies numériques;
• les collaborations régulières qui constituent « l’univers Vallée »;
• la mise en scène et le rapport du cinéaste aux acteurs et aux actrices;
• l’inscription de Jean-Marc Vallée comme fer de lance du renouveau de la cinématographie québécoise des années 2000;
• la réception de son œuvre au Québec, en Europe et aux États-Unis;
• le modèle de travail hollywoodien (entre Montréal et Los Angeles) mis en place par Jean-Marc Vallée et ses équipes québécoises.

Les propositions de communication (maximum 500 mots), en français ou en anglais et accompagnées d’une courte notice biobliographique, devront être envoyées à l’adresse colloquevallee@gmail.com d’ici le 20 avril. Les présentations acceptées seront d’une durée de 20 minutes.

Comité d’organisation
Thomas Carrier-Lafleur, Baptiste Creps, André Gaudreault, Santiago Hidalgo, Bernard Perron et Isabelle Raynauld

Site web : https://colloquevallee.labocinemedias.ca/

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference: “Jean-Marc Vallée: From Quebec to Hollywood”
Cinémathèque québécoise (Montreal), June 8 and 9, 2023

On 25 December 2021, Jean-Marc Vallée left us prematurely at the age of 58. A graduate of the cinema studies program of the Université de Montréal in 1986, Jean-Marc Vallée received posthumously, during a degree conferral ceremony in August 2022, the Insigne du mérite award of the Faculté des arts et des sciences of that university. This honour demonstrates the excellence of his work initially in Quebec and then internationally.

First came the interest created in the French-speaking world by films such as C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) and Café de Flore (2011), consecrating him as one of the most prominent Quebec filmmakers; the success of Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Wild (2014) and Demolition (2015) then established him as one of the most sought-after directors of North-American auteur cinema. The production of series, which now has a preponderant role in the audiovisual industry through the growth of digital platforms and the influence of serial narratives throughout television and cinema, was also a field in which Jean-Marc Vallée stood out: his series Sharp Objects (2018) and Big Little Lies (2017-19) met with great popular success.

As a director, scriptwriter and producer of film and television, Jean-Marc Vallée was one of the most productive artists of a new wave of filmmakers who have contributed to the international visibility of Quebec art. The critical and commercial triumph of his work also established him, along with a few others, as one of the spearheads of a generation of artists from the Belle province who have conquered Hollywood. In recent years Jean-Marc Vallée, Denis Villeneuve, Xavier Dolan and Philippe Falardeau have been sought out to work on intimist projects, genre films, big-budget productions and Hollywood series.

The international conference Jean-Marc Vallée: From Quebec to Hollywood seeks both to study Jean-Marc Vallée’s film and television oeuvre and to reflect on this trend which sees Quebec cinema and its artists being exported abroad, particularly to France and Hollywood. The event is also aimed at both connoisseurs of Vallée’s oeuvre and neophytes to his work who are nevertheless interested in the resurgence of Quebec cinema and in intercultural transfers between Quebec, Europe and Hollywood Through the prism of Vallée oeuvre, this conference seeks, finally, to prompt thinking about questions which today have become essential in research and creation for all those interested in Quebec cinema.

We invite proposals for individual presentations which explore topics specific to the work and career of Jean-Marc Vallée. Presentations can address the following topics, without being limited to them:

• the evolution of Vallée’s aesthetic, from the earliest short films to the television series;
• The structuring themes of Jean-Marc Vallée’s work (such as that of female characters and their independence; the presence or absence of a father figure; or the psychological complexity of the characters);
• Vallée’s growing interest in televised and serial media;
• the musical world of Jean-Marc Vallée’s film and television work (and in particular the importance of pop rock, jazz and blues in his work) or his collaborations with renowned composers;
• pre-production sources of inspiration and scriptwriting and conceptual approaches;
• study of Vallée’s use of visual effects and digital technologies;
• the regular collaborations which made up the “Vallée universe”;
• directing and Vallée’s relationships with actors and actresses;
• Jean-Marc Vallée’s status as spearhead of the resurgence of Quebec cinema in the 2000s;
• the reception of Vallée’s work in Quebec, Europe and the United States;
• the Hollywood working model put in place (in both Montreal and Los Angeles) by Jean-Marc Vallée and his Quebec film crews.

Presentation proposals of no more than 500 words in English or French, accompanied by a brief bio-bibliography, should be sent to colloquevallee@gmail.com by 20 April. Presentations will be allotted 20 minutes.

Organising Committee
Thomas Carrier-Lafleur, Baptiste Creps, André Gaudreault, Santiago Hidalgo, Bernard Perron and Isabelle Raynauld

Website : https://colloquevallee.labocinemedias.ca/en/home/